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Trust Accounts – how to increase trust
A trusting relationship is an essential element of teaching and learning. This playful video compares learner trust to a bank account.
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A few thoughts on the role of Trust and domestic animals.
For pets, at least one bond of trust is essential to have a relaxed, happy-go-lucky, animal living with humans. In fact this is one of the differences between wild and domestic animals. Wild animals do not trust humans, nor do they trust that the environment is safe, secure and will give them what they need to survive. They learn to be much more alert to survive and be ready for daily challenges. Through 2000-10,000 years of husbandry, domestic animals have changed there genetic code toward domesticity. Animal science defines domestic as tolerant to the presence of humans. Of course it means more in real life because they rely on us to supply food, water, shelter and daily activity.
We expect more of our Pets than simple domesticity. We want them to live with us seamlessly, anticipate & fulfill our needs, understand the human language, entertain us, love us and leave our stuff alone. -If only they could do housework — better than a wife.
But there is a huge gap between what animals tolerate at birth & our expectations that they understand the complex world of human society. We don’t even understand how to get along with others until in our middle twenties or much later.
Today we react to words like – “Dog Obedience”, and have misconceptions from family beliefs, movie & TV images which together confuse the subject of dog training more. “Dog Obedience”it is an unfortunate, old label and complete obedience is hard to create. Instead, think about training as teaching methods for our pets to successfully navigate life with humans. We are entrusted to teach our pets to be good civilized members of our human society. The AKC has new program of training called Good Canine Citizen instead of the old obedience name to promote this idea. The Good News is that when Dogs understand us and succeed in getting along they form a bond of trust to their training partner.
These two capacities; 1. knowledge of how to succeed and 2. bond of trust, enable pets to handle frustration and recover quickly from bad-events. This capacity is called Resiliency.
It is through helping pets to develop resiliency, that we prevent or treat the anxiety problems seen in dogs, cats, birds even horse and cattle. Good trainers preserve and increase the bond of trust with their dog(s) through consistent training that rewards the dog for learning.
Check out my article on “Kennel training: Why do dogs or puppies bark and cry when left alone” for more on resiliency.
Map of ticks and diseases — dogs and ticks
Link to cool interactive map of numbers of tick infections in dogs.
Website on Home-Prepared Dog &Cat Diets
Great resource check it out !! here is the link
Good science about Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Health. Do we need both DHA &EPA omega 3 fats?
This is a link to a scholarly article that reveals that we benefit from both Omega 3 fats. Plus lists the best foods for sources of Omega 3 fats. Food technology is aiming to separate out the two fats from fish oil or substitute a vegetable source fats (linoleic FA) for just EPA. This article clearly shows the benefit of both fats in our diet. My conclusion: why bother to change mother nature, eat fish oil to get the best of both fats in one food .
(n-3) Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Health: Are Effects of EPA and DHA Shared or Complementary?.
For Your Information:
TABLE 1
Major dietary sources of long-chain (n-3) PUFA1
| EPA | DPA2 | DHA | Combined EPA+DHA | |
| mg/100 g | ||||
| Anchovy | 763 | 41 | 1292 | 2055 |
| Herring, Atlantic | 909 | 71 | 1105 | 2014 |
| Salmon, farmed | 862 | 393 | 1104 | 1966 |
| Salmon, wild | 411 | 368 | 1429 | 1840 |
| Mackerel, Atlantic | 504 | 106 | 699 | 1203 |
| Bluefish | 323 | 79 | 665 | 988 |
| Sardines, Atlantic | 473 | 0 | 509 | 982 |
| Trout | 259 | 235 | 677 | 936 |
| Golden bass (tilefish) | 172 | 143 | 733 | 905 |
| Swordfish | 127 | 168 | 772 | 899 |
| Tuna, white (albacore) | 233 | 18 | 629 | 862 |
| Mussels | 276 | 44 | 506 | 782 |
| Striped bass | 169 | 0 | 585 | 754 |
| Shark | 258 | 89 | 431 | 689 |
| Pollock, Atlantic | 91 | 28 | 451 | 542 |
| Oysters, wild | 274 | 16 | 210 | 484 |
| King mackerel | 174 | 22 | 227 | 401 |
| Tuna, light (skipjack) | 91 | 17 | 237 | 328 |
| Snapper | 48 | 22 | 273 | 321 |
| Flounder and sole | 168 | 34 | 132 | 300 |
| Clams | 138 | 104 | 146 | 284 |
| Grouper | 35 | 17 | 213 | 248 |
| Halibut | 80 | 20 | 155 | 235 |
| Lobster | 117 | 6 | 78 | 195 |
| Scallops | 72 | 5 | 104 | 176 |
| Blue crab | 101 | 9 | 67 | 168 |
| Cod, Pacific | 42 | 5 | 118 | 160 |
| Shrimp | 50 | 5 | 52 | 102 |
| Catfish, farmed | 20 | 18 | 69 | 89 |
| Eggs | 0 | 7 | 58 | 58 |
| Chicken breast | 10 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Beef | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Pork | 0 | 10 | 2 | 2 |
Bimini. A new pet natural medicine in treat form. What is it and is it better that what I already give my dog.
A friend sent me a question. What do I think of a new pet chew called Bimini for
arthritis in dogs?
I looked it up. Contains fish oil, cat’s claw and aspirin (willow bark)
1. All versions of Salicylic acid are anti-inflammatory in dogs and cats.
However, dose & frequency is much smaller and they are more prone to adverse
side effects. Salicylic acid (SA) relieves pain quicker than glucosamines(GCAs
) but no better after 1 month on GCAs. Long term SA has serious side ffects
like GI ulcers, cartilage, liver and kidney damage.
2.Cat’s Claw, from South America, and Devil’s claw, from Africa, are related
anti-inflammatory herbs with a mix of anti-inflammatory chemicals. Must be
used carefully as there are side effects from the Cox1 and Cox2 enzymes within
each. Dog and cats are more sensitive to side effects than people or horses so
I like to use products where I know the dose as owners often use more than one
thing. This treat is like taking aspirin and Ibuprofen. The additive dose has
great pain relief and more risk for toxic side effects after a few weeks. All
effects are dose and frequency dependent.
When I use choose an herbal to replace an anti-inflammatory medicine, I choose
Noni ( made by Dr.s Best brand, dried leaves or roots) at 5-10 mg/lb dose to
start which can be slowly increased to 3 times beginning dose. I choice Noni
because at the effective doses there are no adverse side effects. Main draw
back is that it takes about 3 months to reach full physiologic effect, but
pain relief begin after 1 week and increase for 1 month.
3. Fish oil. Based on studies with arthritic dogs, Omega 3 FA from Fish oil,
where more effective at pain and inflammation relief compared to NSAIDs,
glucosamines, alone or with MSM. Doses of 350 – 750 mg O3 FA or 1000 -2000mg
of Fish oil.
Keep in mind that Omega3 FA from Fish oil assist the synovial cells to work
better to protect the joint. Also, other studies looked at the amount &
quality of Omega 3 in fortified dog foods or treats that are kibble or semi-
soft forms. Cooking of kibbles or storage of oil soaked semi-soft damaged the
FAs, oxidizing the FAs to an inactive form. Plus, most did not have enough
Omega 3 FA in them to have beneficial effect. Best diet source of FA is
dribbled on top of food just before feeding. Even the science diet & purina
arthritis diets, with FA sprayed over kibble right before packaging did not
have significant clinical effect.
There are many many (100s) herbal anti-inflammatories used for centuries as
medicine. Studies to objectively compare these herbs to one another have not
been done yet. So whether one is the best in not known. Evaluating the many
studies of anti-inflammatory herbs, they are dosed up to effect. Taking that
into account, I find the main ones are all similar in prevention of pain and
inflammation so the main differences are side effects, how easy to use, and
price of course. In general mixtures are almost always less effective when
compared to an effective dose of a single ingredient. These chews are likely
one ingredient, with a little of the other two ingredients and allot of flavor
filler to cover up the bad taste of either herb. Cat claw dose ~ $0.12 or
aspirin tabs $0.03 are much less expensive than these soft chews, either one
is enough. Fish oil purified concentrate is about $2/oz from a vet and dogs
love the taste. Big dogs need 1 tsp/day fish oil so that is 1/6th oz. So cats
claw + aspirin with fish oil added to food for 80 lb dog is $0.45/day.
Compare to price of $1.30 for a daily dose of Bimini for same size dog.After
one month they recommend every other day dosing which reduces price to $.65,
still more that the total of individual ingredients.
So there you go… a long answer. However all that said, it seems that
marketing trumps effectiveness, safety and price because these types of
supplements are selling in large numbers.
Alley Cat Allies – Best of the Best Educational Materials
Please check into this website before rescuing a cat from your neighborhood.
Access Educational Materials Most Requested Online and Used by our Feral Friends – Alley Cat Allies.
How to read food labels from the FDA & The Dog Food Project
Have you wondered what the information on the package of pet food really reveals. Check out this site at the Food and Drug Administration that details what our laws require (and does not require).
FDA – How to read pet food labels
FDA – special foods and treats
I personally like the Dog Food Project website which is generally accurate and has more information more about ingredients and quality in foods. Link: Dog Food Project
Diet Search website from the College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State U.
This link can be used to find several diets on the market based on what your pet needs. It is intended to assist in your search for a diet. More important are many informative articles on the site. Look at the right boarder list for more information.
Diet Search :: The College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University.
The supermarket is becoming more confusing! This fact makes feeding our families quality and healthful food a challenge…..
I write allot about the petfoods & nutrition products for Cats and Dogs. Readers may already realize it is difficult to select good quality and healthful petfood for our pets. Well, the pet-care marketplace is confusing and becoming more so, as companies use more clever advertizing to increase sales.
Well Dr Lustig has tackled the same issue where it relates to human health and everyday food from supermarkets. This is a link to his articles is you do not want to read his new book called Fat Chance.
I highly recommend this website!!
Dr Smith Holistic Petcare 
